This morning when I woke up, I heard the Lord say, “Janell, check the roots.”

As usual (in our relationship), He didn’t bring any clarification to this statement. I had no idea what any of it meant, but as I was grabbing my coffee from my kitchen counter, I looked over at my prayer plant on the corner shelf. It was struggling. Two weeks ago, I had found mold in the soil and so I treated it with some organic thyme, cinnamon, and peppermint oils. The mold had disappeared, but the plant was still wrestling between life and death.

This prayer plant was still in the plastic container that I had brought it home in from the store. As I slowly pulled it out, I saw the problem. It was at that moment when began to realize why God had been speaking to me about roots when I woke up.

A root ball had formed. The problem was in the roots. The tightly bound soil-root ball needed to be liberated from its constriction in order to flourish. I started breaking up the roots, loosening them from their bonds. Next, I grabbed a bigger pot and filled it with potting soil. Finally, I placed the plant inside its new pot and gave it a drink.

This got me to thinking…how many of us have roots that are all balled up? And how many of us are living in a pot that is restrictive to the plans and the callings that God have given us?

If I had not loosened up my prayer plant’s roots and moved it to a bigger container eventually the plant would have died. It seems to be the same way for us, and the plans God has for us. His plans for us are good. Maybe I need to say that again. Yahweh’s plans for us are good. I’m sensing there are a lot of readers here who are struggling to believe that is true because your life is a mess right now. I get that because my life was a really big mess a few years ago. In fact, it was such a mess that I couldn’t get out of it on my own. I thought for a while that my life was a mess because God caused it to be that way. There were months of turmoil in our relationship as I wrestled to trust Him. But as always, we are never on our own. My frustration led me to study what He has already said as my spiritual ears started tuning into His channel.

There was one scripture that made me stop dead in my tracks and face all my disappointment through a different lens. James 1:17 says this, “Every gift God freely gives us is good and perfect, streaming down from the Father of lights, who shines from the heavens with no hidden shadow or darkness and is never subject to change.” When God gives us a gift, it is always good. Satan has done an excellent job deceiving so many of God’s children into believing that God is withholding something from us. That deception was used in heaven, when he started spreading rumors about Yahweh and formed a rebellion against the Most High God. And that same line was used when he was bartering with Even in the garden. The truth is that God never withholds from us. And there is no hidden motive to His love.

For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows [present] grace and favor and [future] glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Psalm 84:11 (AMPC)

Listen, we can scream and yell at the devil all day long (Lord knows there are days when I do), but if we don’t address those roots bound up inside of us, keeping our lives constricted- nothing will change. Some of you might be asking, what does constriction look like? Let’s think of constriction like a spiritual disease. What would be the symptoms of a life that is being constricted?

• No prayer life (you try, but you fall asleep or get distracted)
• Can’t read or understand the Bible
• Unforgiveness
• Unbelief
• No sense of purpose

What is the root ball in your life? Ask Holy Spirit to show you personally what is keeping you from living in the abundant life that Yeshua died to give you. God wants you to prosper in every way, so that you can exceed in glorifying His name. If your spiritual roots are bound up, you will not grow. Yahweh wants to release His children from stunted growth. He desires for His children to eat from the tree of life and abundance. To do that, we must stop eating from the tree of knowledge. Ask Yeshua to show you what things in your life are constricting your growth in Him. Once He reveals what it is, ask Him lots of questions about how you can partner together to be rid of restrictions. And ask what gift He has for you to maintain your life in the spirit, living in His fullness.

Receive from Yeshua and reject the food from the enemy ( even when it looks good to eat).

A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect—life in its fullness until you overflow!

John 10:10

Prayer:

Beloved friend, I pray that you are prospering in every way and that you continually enjoy good health, just as your soul is prospering. (3 John 1:2)